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This weekend, Joe Thomas and Joshua Cribbs will be on hand at the Pro Bowl to take part in the event's annual festivities. Many people consider the Pro Bowl to be a joke; as evidenced by the FanPost about it earlier in the week. Over at SBNation.com, there is a special feature on ways the Pro Bowl could possibly be improved.

Another Team to Cheer For?

Could there be a time in the near future that there is another Cleveland football team to cheer for?

Cleveland State wants to know if students would pay higher fees to support a football program.

So, CSU's Student Government Association will conduct a referendum vote April 12-14, asking students whether they would be willing to pay about $4 per credit hour more in general fees. Students currently pay $40 per credit hour -- about 40 percent of which goes toward athletics.

I have mixed feelings, mainly because it would seem difficult for CSU to field a very good team versus the expenses required to start it up at this point; although a good portion of the fees would be financed by student fees. If the Vikings started a football program, they would be "in the 10-team Pioneer Football League, competing against such schools as Butler, Dayton and Drake."

In a best-case scenario, the earliest that CSU could field a team would probably be in 2012, according to President Ronald Berkman.

Holmgren Lures Away More People

Team president Mike Holmgren brought another one of his former staff members to Cleveland yesterday in Mark Schiefelbein, who will serve as the Vice President of Football Operations. Schiefelbein spent 18 years with the Packers; it seems unprecedented that people with such tenure are just flocking to the Browns.

Another Pro Bowler for the Browns

Who could it possibly be!?! Chomps! That's right, if for whatever reason you're in Miami and want to see the Browns' mascot down there, here is where he will be:

Saturday, January 30
8 a.m. – 11 a.m. – Pro Bowl Open Practice at Lockhart Stadium in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.
11 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. – US vs. International Pop Warner Game at Lockhart Stadium (open to the public)

Sunday, January 31
4 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. – Tailgate Gate G Parking Lot at Dolphin Stadium
7:30 p.m. – 2010 Pro Bowl at Dolphin Stadium

Off-Beat Notes

• So, NBC has just picked up one of Conan O'Brien's pilots, "completely unrelated to Conan's departure." Sure it is. I doubt we ever see NBC actually air Conan's pilot about a Supreme Court Justice.
• No need to get into the actual political talk of the State of the Nation -- all I need to say is that I got another good laugh at the absurdity of the annual "stand and clap after every sentence" or "pan to the opposing party still sitting with disgusted looks on their faces" or "see Joe Biden shake his head after every word Obama utters."
• Would you buy an iPad? I'd rather just do with a well-functioning laptop.
• 5 days and counting until LOST. This is bigger than the Super Bowl, folks. ;)